User blog:TehPlaneFreak/Pure Good Proposal: Mister Rogers (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood)
What's The Work A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is a drama film directed by Marielle Heller and starring Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers and Matthew Rhys as Lloyd Vogel. In the film, Rogers, a kindly children's television show host, strikes a friendship with Vogel, an embittered Esquire journalist who is assigned to interview him. Who is He/What Has He Done? Fred Rogers, also known as Mister Rogers, is a famous children's television show host who serves as the purehearted antagonist of the film. In addition to working with young children and helping them understand that they are precious, Rogers does the same for the adults he encounters (from a talk show host to a group of parents wanting advice from him); he helps Lloyd acknowledge his repressed emotional trauma and forgive his father Jerry for abandoning him, his sister, and his mother for another woman. Corrupting Factors None that I know of. Rogers serves as the paragon of morality, wisdom, and kindness in the film and consistently stands above pride and revenge, much like his real-life counterpart and unlike Lloyd, who feels as though he has every reason to harbor hostility in his heart but needs Rogers and his kindness to learn that he does not. Admirable Standard Rogers crosses the Goodness Zone multiple times in the film. #From the moment he meets Vogel in his WQED studio in Pittsburgh, Rogers sees through Lloyd's callousness and into the goodness in Lloyd's heart. While he knows that Lloyd intends to destroy his reputation (since Rogers read all of Lloyd's articles that he and Bill Isler could find), Rogers moves beyond any reason he could have to refuse to work with Lloyd; he chooses to see the journalist as a friend and refers to him as such throughout the film. #Rogers exhibits a deep, consistent humility on a level that nobody else seems to match in the film. ##He does not think he is a hero and believes that he is only being himself on set. Rogers demonstrates this belief when he expresses confusion at Lloyd when asked if he considers "Mister Rogers" a hero instead of himself. ##While he is beloved nationwide, he values human connection far more than fame, which he not only does not value but also only uses as a vehicle for his kindness and emotional charity. ##He talks openly about his struggles as a father to two sons (and all of his mistakes have been made in good faith) and is unafraid to talk about his imperfection; in contrast, Lloyd is prideful and unwilling to be emotionally vulnerable until his encounter with Rogers. #Rogers displays significant emotional intelligence, a quality that Lloyd lacks in the start of the film but eventually fosters after meeting Rogers. The most notable example of this is Rogers' advice on dealing with anger without hurting anyone, directed first to the viewer and then to Lloyd later in the film. Some methods of healthy anger management that Rogers demonstrates include: ##Singing "What Do You Do With the Mad That You Feel?" while performing as a puppet named Daniel Striped Tiger. ##Playing the lowest keys on the studio piano at the film's conclusion. #Rogers advocates forgiveness throughout the film, encouraging Lloyd to acknowledge his emotional trauma in order to forgive Jerry and his infidelity. He does not do this "just because"; he champions forgiveness in his friendship with Lloyd because he knows that it will help Lloyd take back his identity, which his feelings of abandonment and anger have come to dominate, as hard it seems and feels for anyone who is tasked with forgiving. This lines up with Rogers' attitude of kindness and charity. Final Verdict This version of Mister Rogers, I believe, counts as Pure Good as much as the real-life counterpart does. Category:Blog posts Category:Pure Good Proposal